The unit covers an area including Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath, Tyseley, Acocks Green, Moseley, South Yardley and Cannon Hill.

Domestic abuse officer Holly Taylor said: "The car will help when we go into the community to raise awareness.

"It will also be used by our Partnerships and Reassurance teams."

Pertemps Employment Alliance originally supplied the vehicle to crime reduction officer Grant Moss to help him provide valuable advice to residents on crime reduction, neighbourhood watch schemes and forums.

Grant, who has moved on, said: "The partnership between ourselves and Pertemps is working really well. We have a dedicated vehicle so we can go out into communities to provide advice and assistance and we can refer people to Pertemps if they are out of work and advise them of the services Pertemps Employment Alliance offers."

Dedicated lone parents advisers are based at centres across the city, including Yardley, Nechells, Sparkhill, Newtown, Erdington, Handsworth and Edgbaston. There is also an office in New Street, Birmingham, which deals specifically with lone parents.

PEA, which has 11 centres in Birmingham and Solihull, has become one of the UK's leading providers of Government-funded Welfare to Work initiatives since it was established by Pertemps Group chairman Tim Watts and PEA chief executive Colin Birchall in 1998.